The Little Grey Cells…

“It is the little grey cells, mon ami, on which one must rely.” Words said by the ever popular – Hercule Poirot.

Poirot has been one of my favourite fictional characters ever. Created by crime novelist Dame Agatha Christie, he has proved to be the most intelligent and successful private detectives of all times.

 

Hercule Poirot is a retired Belgian detective residing in London.

Comparable to Egyptian Pharaohs, he is known for his inflated ego, vanity, and charm. Though you just cannot grudge him for that little, minuscule defect 😛 (he obviously doesn’t think of it as a fault). He is neurotic about order (books arranged on a shelf according to height) and approves of symmetry everywhere, from his residence which is picked because of its symmetry to his immaculate patent leather shoes.

Christie has described him through his faithful sidekick Captain Hastings. He says, “Poirot was an extraordinary looking little man. He was hardly more than five feet, four inches, but carried himself with great dignity. His head was exactly the shape of an egg, and he always perched it a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military. The neatness of his attire was almost incredible. A speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound.”

Poirot also values method. This is because of his ability to solve the most impossible crimes by just sitting in one place and just thinking. He derides such methods as examine footprints, collecting cigarette ash, searching for clues with a magnifying glass, or taking fingerprints, as he feels it would seem like a dog following a scent with its nose stuck to the ground :D.

 

Some of his most entertaining quotes:

“I cannot, truly I cannot, sit in a chair all day reflecting how truly admirable I am.”

“I, who have undoubtedly the finest brain in Europe at present, can afford to be magnanimous!”

“It is my weakness, it has always been my weakness, to desire to show off.”

 

He is a gourmet, and is proud of being so.

“Always a man who had taken his stomach seriously, he was reaping his reward in old age. Eating was not only a physical pleasure, it was also an intellectual research.”

“If one partakes of the five o’clock, one does not approach the dinner with the proper quality of expectant gastric juices. And the dinner, let us remember, is the supreme meal of the day!”

 

For all those who don’t know about him, your education is seriously lacking, mon ami! 😀